Improvement in means for raising sunken vessels



2 Sheets-Sheet 1.

W. RAYDT. Meansfor Raising Sunken. Vessels, 8w. No. 2fl,587. Patented'lan. 21,1879. Fig.1

2 Sheets-Sheet 2. W. RAYDT;

Means for Raising Sunken Vessels, 8w. No. 211,587. Patented Jan'. 21,1879 MPHERS, PHUTQ-LITHQGRAPHER. WASmNGwN, o c.

meters, at which depth the density of the air rro WILHELM RAYDT, OFHANOVER, PRUSSIA, GERMAN EMPIRE.

IMPROVEMENT IN MEANS FOR RAISING SUNKEN VESSELS, 80c.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 211,587, dated January21, 1879; application filed November 25, 1878.

To all tvhom it may concern:

Be it known that I, WILHELM RAYDT, physician, of Hanover, in the Kingdomof Prussia,

German Empire, have invented a new and useful Means for Raising SunkenBodies, of which the following is a specification:

My invention has for its object the raising of sunken bodies, such asvessels or other bodies; and consists, essentially, in raising suchbodies by means of a gas adapted to inflatea collapsible body, such as aballoon, or a series of such, sunk in a collapsed state, made fast tothe body to be raised, and then inflated by means of gas contained in areservoir in a compressed or liquefied state, said reservoir beingattached to and connected with the balloon.

. The invention further consists in providing each balloon with one ormore safety-valves, adapted to permit the gas contained in the balloon,when inflated, to gradually escape as said balloon rises to the surfaceand the external pressure of the surrounding water diminishes.

The invention further consists in the peculiar manner of connecting thereservoir with the balloon, and the means employed for filling saidreservoir with the compressed or liquefied gas; and, lastly, theinvention consists in certain details of construction, as hereinafterdescribed, and shown in the accompanyin g drawings, in which- Figure lis a vertical elevation, and Fig. 2 a vertical section, part of theballoon being broken away, of an apparatus for raising sunken bodies,constructed according to my invention. Fig. 3 is a vertical section ofthe piece employed for charging the reservoir; and Fig. 4 is atransverse section of the coupling 0, taken on line 00 w of Fig. 2.

' The lifting power developed by a hollow body sunk and then chargedwith air or a gas is very great, and when properly applied is capableoflifting very large masses. Atmospheric air, for instance, which at 0weighs about one onehundred-and-seventieth of an equal volume of water,is capable of lifting seven hundred and seventy times its own volnine orweight, and when employed in a submerged receiver at a depth of abouttwenty is increased threefold, is yet capable of lifting about twohundred and forty times its own weight.

Many attempts have been made to practically apply these well-knownproperties of at mospheric air to the raising of sunken bodies.Air-tight casks, chests, and other like means filled with water and thensunk, have been employed for this purpose; but the difficultiesencountered in the pumping out of these reccivers and replacing thewater by atmospheric air pumped into them, both of which operations hasto be effected from above the surface of the water, have been such as tolead to no practical results in cases where the vessel or other body tobe raised was at a certain depth under water. Nor could the operation ofraising be carried on except in very fair weather with a very calm sea,as theleast ruffled surface of the water would prevent the pumping outof the receivers. Other attempts in this direction have resulted inutter failure for want of proper application of the lifting power.

By my improved method and means sunken bodies may be raised withcomparative facility, and in such weather as would have prevented anyattempt at raising by the old methods.

The great advantages derived from my improved method and means consistin facilitatin g the submersion of the lifting apparatus; in removingall difficulties of introducing the lifting power, which may be effectedfrom the surface of the water or by the diver below; and, finally, inmaking the operation entirely independent of the state of the weather,as it may be suspended and again resumed whenever required.

In my improved method I employ, preferably, carbonic-acid gas, as beingthe most advantageous, not only on account of its low price, but also onaccount of its specific properties. Any other gas, however, may beemployed, if desired; but only such gases should be used which may beliquefied by a moderate pressure to facilitate the charging of the receiver.

In the application of this method to practi cal use I have found that acollapsible flexible body, such as a balloon of spherical, or nearlyspherical, form, having a diameter of three meters, is capable oflifting, when submerged in sea-water of a temperature of 10 centigrade,one hundred and sixteen thousand four hundred and sixty four kilograms.Fortythree of such balloons would, therefore, be required to lift avessel of about five thousand tons, viz., ,,gfgf forty-three.

In the accompanying drawings, A represents a closed and perfectlyair-tight balloon of any desired shape, preferably spherical in form,and made of strong sail-cloth saturated with a water-proof soluti0nsuchas a solution of rubber-and provided on its interior surface with athick coating of the same material. The balloon is provided with andheld between two metallic plates, A A above and below, the plate Ahaving a ring, a or other suitable device, to which a cord, chain, orother like means for sinking the balloon may be attached.

The plates A A are connected together by means of a hollow verticalaxis, 01., provided with a series of perforations, a and the lowerplate, A carries one or more valves, B, consisting of a short tube, 1),an inverted cupshaped seat, I), and a valve, b connected to avalve-stem, D which holds the valve closed by means of a spring, I)",the valve-stem being guided by a sleeve, W. The tension of the spring bis such as to keep the valve in its seat until the pressure of the gaswithin the balloon has attained a certain limit, and when this limit isexceeded the valve orvalves will be opened by the excess of pressure topermit the gas to escape from the balloon. A provision of this kind isnecessary in order to prevent an explosion when the balloon rises to thesurface of the water and the pressure of the water gradually diminishesor exerts less power upon the external surface of the balloon.

Upon plate A. is formed a coupling, G, provided with a central passage,0, communicating with the hollow axis a, for the delivery of the gasfrom the reservoir to the balloon. The gas is intercepted by means of astop-cock, c requiring a quarter-turn to openv or close it. The underface of the coupling forms a shoulder, 0 provided with a screw-threadedcentral projection, 0 through which the passage 0 is continued, by meansof which threaded portion 0 the coupling is connected to an intermediatesafety-coupling, D, provided with a central gas-passage, d, and ascrew-valve, D, of any usual or preferred construction, the valve-stem dof which passes through a stuffing-box, al to prevent all escape of gasor ingress of air, whereby the liquefied carbonic acid may be convertedinto gas. This coupling is also necessary for charging the reservoir, aswill be described hereinafter. The upper end of the passage (1 isenlarged and threaded to receive the threaded projection c of thecoupling 0, while the lower part of the safety-coupling D is providedwith a threaded shank, (P, by means of which it is screwed to thereservoir.

E is the reservoir, of any desired shape, and preferably cast in onepiece, as all soldering should be avoided, and if constructed of morethan one piece the sections should be so formed as to be capable ofbeing united by welding. The walls of the reservoir are of the properthickness to resist the pressure of the gas contained therein, and ifliquefied carbonic acid is employed the walls should be of such athickness as to resist any expansion of gas which may be accidentallygenerated. The weight of this reservoir and its couplings, as well asthe hollow metallic axis and the plates, facilitates the sinking of theapparatus. The reservoir is provided with suitable eyes 6, by means ofwhich it may be moved from place to place, or stayed to the balloon bymeans of stay-ropes.

The balloon A is provided with a series of lifting-belts, F, secured atone end to plate A and at the other to a metallic ring, Gr. These beltsnot only serve as a means for connecting the balloon with the burden tobe raised, but also as a strengthening for the balloon itself, and forthis purpose I preferably employ strong belts made of sail-cloth orwoven for the purpose.

H is a clevis or other suitable device, connected to the metallic ring Gby means of draft-rods h, as shown.

In practice I test the resisting power of the balloon and its valves, aswell as that of the reservoir and parts connected therewith, and thetensile strength of the belts and its attachments, before the apparatusis employed for actual service, and according to the weight it isintended to sustain.

The filling or charging of the reservoir is efiected by means of afilling-piece or charging-piece, L, Fig. 3, adapted to be screwed uponthe safety-coupling D, when the latter with the reservoir have beenunscrewed from the coupling 0. This filling-piece is provided with apassage, 1, adapted to communicate at one end with passage 01 in thesafety-coupling D, and terminating at the opposite end in a pipe, L,connected with a compressingrpump of any usual construction. (Not shownin the drawings.) A second passage, Z, at right angles to passage 1,communicates with the outer space, and is closed by a stop-cock, l,athird passage, i communicating at its lower end with passage 1, and atits upper end with a manometer. (Also not shownin the drawings.) As thecarbonic-acid or other gas is forced into the reservoir through'pipe L,the air contained therein will be gradually compressed until thepressure is suchas to liquefy the gas, and when the pressure of the air.within the cylinder is greater than is necessary to liquefy said gas,as indicated by the manometer, the stop-cock L is opened and the air isallowed to escape until the pressure within the cylinder or reservoir,as indicated by the manometer, is again reduced, and so on vuntil thenecessary quantity of carbonic-acid gas has been liquefied within thereservoir to furnish the gas required for the inflation of the balloon.

When so charged the reservoirs may be stored away until required, andshould then be kept in a cool or cold place, and when required for usethey may then be placed in a tank of water and shipped to the placewhere required, together with the balloon or balloons.

The operation of the apparatus is as follows The divers having attachedthe chains or other tackle to the vessel or other body to be raised, andthe reservoirs having previously been connected with the balloon byscrewing them to the coupling 0, the balloon and its attachments arethen sunk as near as possible to the spot where they are to be attachedto the wreck, the valves D of the coupling D havin g been opened beforesinking the apparatus.

The diver now opens the stop-cock c and allows the generated gas withinthe reservoir to flow into the balloon until the latter is sufficientlyinflated to float and sustain its own weight, when it may be readilyguided to the place where it is to be connected with the wreck, thestop-cock 0 having again been closed. When all the balloons are attachedthe diver or divers open the stop-cocks 0 again to fully inflate theballoons, which, by their lifting power, raise the wreck to the surface,in which position other balloons may be attached, or chains may bepassed under the keel of the wreck, which is then towed into port. Asthe balloons ascend from the depth of the sea and the pressure of thewater uponthe outer surface of the balloon diminishes, the valve orvalves B are opened by the pressurethat is to say, the excess ofpressure of the gas which gradually escapes-so that a rupture of theapparatus is almost impossible.

If desired, lines may. be attached to the stop-cocks c and the balloonsmay then be simultaneously inflated by opening all the stop-cocks at thesame time from the boat. The partial freezing of the acid by the intensecold produced by the expansion of the gas could only slightly retard theinflation of the balloon, as the water surrounding the reservoir couldnot freeze, owing to its constant movement. This apparatus may also beemployed as a means for raising the divers themselves to the surface, asthe method employed at present for raising the diver by means of air hebreathes out is a very dangerous one, since death would inevitablyfollow a rupture of his divers suit.

I propose to provide for each man two small balloons, of a radius of0.25 meters each, for raising about one hundred and twenty kilometers,and a reservoir containing about two liters of a liquified gas, whichwould suffice to lift the above weight and raise it to the surface froma depth of about sixty meters.

The two balloons are to be folded up and held upon the shoulders of thediver by a crossstrap, both balloons being connected by means offlexible tubes, with the reservoir attached to said balloons in anyconvenient manner and made fast to the chest of the diver. In case ofdanger the diver wouldv then be able to rise to. the surface by openinga screw-valve and inflating the balloons. For this purpose I prefer touse anhydrous ammonia, which, although of a higher price than carbonicacid, is preferable, as it is liquefied by a less pressure (fouratmospheres at 0) than carbonic acid, which adapts it for use withreservoirs of less weight, and also removes all danger of explosion,which would have to be feared at all times with a reservoircontaining-liquefied carbonic acid in contact with the human body, fromwhich it may be warmed, or in case of heat coming in contact with suchreservoir in any other manner.

Such apparatus may also be employed on land and sea in case of war formaking observations, and employed as captive balloons; and in this casethe charged reservoirs may be carried in specially-constructed wagons,in which the reservoirs are kept cool by surrounding them with water orother cooling agent, and the balloon may be carried upon a second wagon,provided with a windlass and the necessary quantity of rope.

In this manner the balloon may be inflated when desired, a basketattached thereto to accommodate the officers or engineers and theirinstruments, and allowed to ascend, and upon a signal from the balloonby the occupants of the basket it may be drawn down again.

Upon vessels the reservoirs may be kept in suitable tanks ready for usewhen required, surrounded by some cooling agent.

For these purposes I would also recommend the use of ammonia, forreasons stated above.

Instead of carrying the charged reservoirs upon the wagons, they may becarried empty,

and charged when required by means of a compressing-pump arranged uponthe wagon, also.

The inflation of the balloon is effected by means of a pipe, which maybedisconnected from, and connected to, both the balloon and reservoir, andthe gas may be withdrawn from the balloon and forced back into thereservoir after the observations have been completed and the balloondrawn down again.

Owing to the heat developed in pumping the gas from the balloon into thereservoir and the consequent danger of explosion, the latter should beprovided with a manometer and surrounded by a cooling agent.

Having now described my invention, what I claim, and desire to secure byLetters Patent, 1s'

1. The combination, with the balloon and the plates A and A of the rigidcentral axis a, the former to protect the fabric against damage duringthe sinking or the'rising of the balloon, and the latter to permit ofthe balloon being collapsed or folded around it to facilitate thesinking thereof, substantially as described.

' 2. In an apparatus for raising sunken bodies,

a flexible balloon adapted to be collapsed upon and around a centralaxis, serving as gas-duct, in combination with a gas-reservoir rigidlyconnected with the balloon and. central axis, and serving as a weight toassist in sinking the balloon when in a collapsed state, substantiallyas described.

3. The combination, with the balloon A, and

its bearing-plates A A and valves B, of the hollow perforated axis a,the coupling-piece G, and the generator D, substantially as described,for the purpose specified.

4. The combination, with the balloon A, and hollow axis a, and plate Aand couplingpiece 0, provided with a central passage and a stop-cock, ofthe safety-piece D, having a central passage and a screw-valve, and thereservoir E, substantially as described, for the purpose specified.

5. The combination, with the reservoir and safety-piece D, of thecharging-piece L and a force-pump, substantially as shown and described,and for the purpose specified.

In witness that I'claim the foregoing I have hereunto set my hand this19th day of Sep-

